Radio România Internațional

Tag: Constitutional Court of Romania

  • June 3, 2024

    June 3, 2024

    ELECTIONS – It’s the last week of campaign ahead of the European Parliament and local elections slated for this Sunday. Some 19 million Romanians expected to hit the nearly 19,000 polling stations in the country. 915 stations have been set up abroad, twice compared to the European Parliament elections five years ago. Polling stations will open at 7 AM and close at 10 PM, one hour later compared to previous rounds of election. The presidents of the polling stations can opt to extend the voting process until midnight, if there are still people standing in line or inside the station. According to the Permanent Election Authority, the total number of candidates for the local and European Parliament elections is close to 208,000. For the first time, voter turnout updates will be provided in real time on election day, for each separate ballot, on the website of the Permanent Election Authority. We recall Romania will also host presidential elections in September and legislative elections in December.

     

     

    DISCOVERY – The bodies of the two Romanians reported missing at the end of last week following flash floods and rising river levels have been found in Italy. The bodies of two of the three missing Romanian young people who drowned on Friday in Natisone River, were found in the Udine province (northeast). Search operations to retrieve the third missing person continue. Young people were bathing in Natisone despite the ban, when water levels suddenly rose. Following information sent by Italian authorities, the Romanian Foreign Ministry confirmed two of the deceased were Romanian nationals, conveying its condolences to the bereaved families. Consular office representatives constantly maintain dialogue with the local authorities in order to obtain information regarding search operations for the third missing person, as well as with the families of the deceased citizens, ready to provide consular assistance depending on requests and in line with their attributes. The Romanian Foreign Ministry announced Romanian citizens can request consular assistance by calling the numbers of Romania’s Consular Office in Trieste.

     

     

    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional Court of Romania is today discussing a referral of the High Court of Cassation and Justice regarding the Law approving the Government’s emergency decree on extending the terms provided for insolvency prevention and insolvency procedures. The law stipulates that, in the case of economic operators in strategic branches of the national economy, who have reached an arrangement with creditors upon the entry into force of this law, the length of the agreement or the restructuring plan can be extended, at the debtor’s request and based on sound reasons, for a maximum of 5 years.

     

     

    MINIMUM WAGE – The Government this week is expected to pass a bill on increasing the national minimum wage from approximately 660 EUR to 745 EUR. The draft law has already been submitted for public debate. Stakeholders can submit their proposals, suggestions and opinions regarding this bill on the website of the Labor Ministry. Currently, some 760,000 people from the total number of employees active on the labor market earn minimum wages in Romania, and that number is expected to exceed 1.8 million after the increase. In addition, the 40 EUR tax deduction is maintained until the end of the year. Talks are underway with Finance Minister, Marcel Boloș, to increase this amount to approximately 60 EUR, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. At the same time, the Government is ready to help employers by supplementing the budget for SME Plus, a national support scheme addressing small- and medium-sized enterprises. Also, the government continues to restructure its institutions, with the head of government calling on the relevant ministers to step up the pace in order to complete the process across all ministries by the end of the month.

     

     

    GYMNASTICS –Romanian athlete Andrei Muntean won bronze in the parallel bars final on Sunday at the Artistic Gymnastics Challenge World Cup in Koper, Slovenia. He was outranked in the final by Ukrainian Ilya Kovtun and Hsi Hung Yuan of Taiwan. Andrei Muntean is the only representative of Romania qualified in the men’s artistic gymnastics competition at the Paris Olympics.

     

     

    FOOTBALL – Romania’s national football team is playing Bulgaria tomorrow and Liechtenstein on Friday, June 7 in two friendly matches ahead of the European Championship expected to kick off on June 14 in Germany. Bucharest will host both matches. Romania was drawn in Group E alongside Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team will play Ukraine on June 17 in Munich, Belgium on June 22 in Köln, and finally Slovakia on June 26, in Frankfurt. Romania last took part in a European Championship in 2016 in France. (VP)

  • Former MPs in Romania keep their special pensions

    Former MPs in Romania keep their special pensions

    In late June, Romania’s Parliament was proudly announcing that the senators and deputies, with a large majority, voted – wanting to set an example – to eliminate their own special pensions, in the context in which Romania undertook, under the NRRP, to abolish those pensions benefiting only some occupational categories. The vote has a special significance for the entire political class, said back then the president of the Liberals, Nicolae Ciucă. And the Social Democrat Alfred Simonis was stressing that it was a first step towards the reform of all special pensions: we don’t tax them, we don’t reduce them, we simply eliminate them. We repeal both those that are in payment and those that could have enter payment, if it were not for this law, said with conviction Alfred Simonis from the Parliament’s rostrum.



    Parliament had also adopted a similar normative act in the not too distant past, but a decision of the Constitutional Court prevented its implementation. Something that has happened again now! After the resounding announcement made in June, at the end of November, comes another one from the same Supreme Court – former senators and deputies can keep their special pensions, and Parliament has the power to eliminate them only for the future. The CCR judges reasoned that, until their abrogation, special pensions were a legal right granted to elected officials who exercised at least one full parliamentary term by the date of reaching retirement age, otherwise, by withdrawing and eliminating these pensions the integrity and substance of an acquired legal right would have been affected. Consequently, ex-parliamentarians with a full mandate until the adoption of the law will continue to receive special pensions.



    There are about 850 beneficiaries, out of the more than 200,000 Romanians who collect special pensions, the parliamentary opposition has stressed, recalling that, in Romania, there are some occupational categories whose pensions are not based exclusively – as in the case of all other pensioners – on the contribution to the state social insurance fund throughout their professional activity. Which is why most Romanians associate parliamentarians, magistrates, soldiers, police officers, diplomats or aviators with members of privileged castes. The dust in the eyes is gone, the special pensions are back, writes the press in Bucharest, after the Constitutional Court’s decision, qualifying it as unpopular for several reasons. Any special pension paid to distinct categories divides society. Then, while in the case of the magistrates or the military it is possible to discuss the existence of reasons for a distinct regime, motivated by risks or restrictions, in the parliamentarians’ case there is no such thing. (MI)


  • Justice Laws: constitutional

    Justice Laws: constitutional

    Though disliked by many,
    the Constitutional Court remains the implacable arbiter of Romanian political
    life. In casual terms, its decisions, even if debated, are enforced. On
    Wednesday, it was the turn of the opposition in the Romanian Parliament to
    comply with its rule and swallow the bitter pill of referrals rejected by the
    judges of the Court. Both the Save Romania Union (USR, center-right) and the Alliance for the
    Union of Romanians (AUR, nationalist), as well as the Ombudsman had notified
    the Court about elements of unconstitutionality regarding the three Justice
    laws adopted in the Parliament dominated by the PSD-PNL-UDMR government
    coalition.






    However, the Court
    decided that the Law on the status of judges and prosecutors, the Law on
    judicial organization and the Law on the Superior Council of Magistracy are all
    constitutional. The interim Speaker of the Senate, the Liberal Alina Gorghiu,
    wrote on social media that the CCR’s decision was correct and natural, and
    the laws will be submitted for promulgation. She believes that, in this way, normality
    will be resumed. Alina Gorghiu has stressed that Romania’s goal is, at present,
    the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, through which
    Brussels has been monitoring the functioning of the rule of law in Romania
    since its accession to the European Union in 2007. She has also said that Romania’s
    accession to the Schengen free movement area also depends on removing this
    mechanism.






    The procedures regarding
    the adoption of the three laws, Alina Gorghiu also claims, were carried out in
    coordination with the European Commission, and correcting the justice legislation
    was also an objective included in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which
    the Romanian Government and Brussels agreed upon together.






    The Save Romania Union,
    however, claims that the new laws will do a lot of harm. According to the
    former Justice Minister Stelian Ion, these are extremely bad and harmful laws,
    which take us back to the period before admission to the European Union, when
    the authoritarian left-wing regime of Prime Minister Adrian Năstase had tried
    to subordinate the magistrates and stop the anti-corruption fight.The decision of the
    Constitutional Court to reject the notifications submitted by the USR, in the
    absence of an opinion from the Venice Commission, proves that the CCR has become
    a simple political tool, the former minister also said.






    In turn, the AUR
    spokesperson, Dan Tănasă, has said that not sanctioning the judges who do not
    comply with the decisions of the CCR renders the decisions devoid of their
    mandatory nature. The Ombudsman too believes that, in addition to the forms of
    manifestation of the right of association, the new legislation in the field
    foresees an expansion of the area of ​​functions that can be taken by judges
    and prosecutors, which exceeds the activity of doing justice. The opposition
    calls on President Klaus Iohannis not to
    promulgate the justice laws in their current form and to wait for the opinion
    of the Venice Commission. (MI)







  • November 2, 2022

    November 2, 2022

    AMENDMENTS – The Government is expected to
    pass a number of legislative amendments in preparation of Romania’s Schengen
    accession. The Government noted the current legislation no longer reflects the
    current European framework for exchanging information among Member States,
    while the national digital reporting system also needs improvement. The
    government wants to decide which authorities should have a right to access,
    transmit or consult data from the national digital system.


    COLD SEASON – 58% of Romanians say they
    will have trouble paying energy bills this upcoming winter, estimating
    temperatures in their homes will be lower compared to previous years, a recent
    study reveals. According to its findings, soaring utility expenses have shaped
    Romanians’ purchasing behavior. 55% of Romanians said they have stopped buying
    non-essential products. 40% of respondents have described energy bills as their
    biggest concern for the period ahead.


    MOLDOVA – Moldova’s President, Maia Sandu,
    received assurances regarding Bucharest’s full support for Chișinău
    in the context of the energy crisis in this country. President Sandu on Tuesday
    met Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, and Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă in Bucharest, expressing gratitude for
    their support and Romania’s actions to facilitate the provision of electricity,
    natural gas, fuel oil and firewood to Moldovan citizens. Furthermore, Maia
    Sandu thanked Romania for quickly responding to offset Moldova’s electricity
    deficit. We recall Bucharest has started supplying electricity and natural gas to
    Moldova after Ukraine has ceased energy exports to Moldova after its energy
    infrastructure was affected by Russian bombings.


    REFUGEES – The Border Police Inspectorate
    announced some 65 thousand people entered Romania on Tuesday, of whom 7,500
    were Ukrainian nationals. According to a press release, some 2.7 million
    Ukrainians have entered Romania starting February 10, most of them headed to
    countries in Western Europe. Over 86,500 Ukrainians have chosen to stay.


    SHIPMENTS – Russia today agreed to resume grain
    exports from Ukraine after receiving guarantees in writing from Ukraine
    regarding the demilitarization of the maritime corridor used for their transport.
    On Saturday, Moscow suspended grain exports invoking drone attacks on Russian military
    watercraft in the port of Sevastopol. Russia claimed the drones moved along the
    secure corridor addressing trade vessels transporting Ukrainian grain. On
    Monday, Russia had warned against the danger of freight ships continuing to navigate
    the corridor used by Ukrainian trade vessels to reach the Mediterranean through
    the Bosporus strait without its consent.


    CONSTITUTIONAL COURT – The Constitutional
    Court of Romania today admitted a notification filed by USR in opposition
    regarding the law that sanctions the building of small power plants in
    protected areas. USR has lodged 11 unconstitutionality claims, including the
    violation of the principle of bicameralism, considering there are major
    differences between the law adopted in the Senate and the version passed by the
    Chamber of Deputies. USR also claims the law is in breach of the right to a
    clean environment. Early this year, Parliament adopted the law stipulating that
    power plants in protected areas that are over 60% complete are considered
    projects of national security and must be rendered operational by the end of
    2025. (VP)

  • Minimum salary and pension rise

    Minimum salary and pension rise

    The government in Bucharest has increased the minimum gross basic salary at national level, which thus reaches 2,300 lei per month, the equivalent of approximately 470 euros. It is an increase of about three percent, taking into account the inflation rate of 2.2% and the real increase in labor productivity per person of 0.8% for 2020. According to official data, in Romania there are about 1.4 million employees who receive the minimum salary, which represents more than a quarter of the total active workforce. For staff with higher education and at least one year of experience in the field of training, the minimum gross base guaranteed salary is maintained at 2,350 lei, about 480 euros, an amount that does not include bonuses and other benefits.



    Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has stated that this increase comes into force on January 1st and citizens purchasing power is maintained. He has also announced that the Executive will increase pension this year too, but in keeping with the calendar set by the current center-right coalition and only after the state budget has been developed.



    On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court of Romania issued a decision admitting, but also rejecting claims from the Government related to a law to increase pensions by 40%, adopted by the former parliament, dominated at the time by the Social Democrats. According to some experts, this means that the law on the increase remains in force if the current parliament does not bring changes to it, at the potential request of President Klaus Iohannis. Romania did not afford last year and cannot afford it this year either to increase pensions by 40%, the Liberal Prime Minister Florin Cîţu has warned. He has recalled that pensions increased by 14% in 2020 and promised they will increase this year as well.



    Representatives of the governing coalition have said they took on another timetable for raising pensions, which takes into account the current economic conditions.The Minister of Labor, Raluca Turcan, claims that such an increase would generate an impact on the budget that is difficult to bear and that the executive will increase the pensions in a bearable quantum, which will not lead to blockages.



    The president of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Marcel Ciolacu, has accused the current coalition of permanently complaining about the lack of money, without trying to look for solutions. That is why, he has said, the Social Democrats will present their own budget solution and prove that the money exists. The Social Democrats also claim that the Constitutional Courts decision is correct and that the 40 percent pension increase must be applied, without intervening on it. Prime Minister Florin Cîțu has explained that the state budget for this year will be submitted to Parliament at the beginning of next month and then the amounts allocated for pensions will be set. (M. Ignatescu)

  • Are parliamentary elections going to be postponed?

    Are parliamentary elections going to be postponed?

    In Bucharest, the issue of the date of the legislative elections continues to cause turmoil on the political scene. While the Social Democratic Party, which holds majority in Parliament following the results of the elections held four years ago, supports the idea that Parliament must choose the date, the Liberal Government and President Klaus Iohannis want the Executive to decide, as it has happened so far.

    At the end of July, Parliament adopted a Law on some measures for organizing the elections for the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, following the end of the mandate of the elected Parliament in 2016, which would allow the Legislature to decide the date.The CCR was notified in connection with the mentioned law, and in the meantime, the Government adopted a Decision by which it established that the parliamentary elections would take place on December 6.

    At the end of September, the Court rejected the complaint made by the head of state and the Executive, and on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court published the motivation of its ruling. Establishing the date of elections after the expiration of Parliament’s mandate can only be done by organic law, and before the expiration of the mandate, by ordinary law, the motivation reads.

    The document states that the Government Decision establishing the date of the parliamentary elections for December 6, although issued in compliance with the law in force on that date, automatically ceases its effects following the entry into force of the normative act subject to constitutional review, namely the law adopted by Parliament. The Court notes that both the concept of the law in question and the timing of its adoption are an expression of the principle of legal certainty, as it indicates in advance to the administrative body with delegated power to set the date of elections – namely the Government – that the date of elections will be set by organic law. It is not possible for both public authorities to concurrently establish the date of the elections, the administrative body thus knowing in advance that this competence has been withdrawn, the motivation also explains.

    The President of the Chamber of Deputies and leader of the dominant party in Parliament, Marcel Ciolacu, announced on a television station that the legislative project regarding the postponement of the general elections of December 6 will enter the parliamentary procedure on Monday:

    The motivation came from the Constitutional Court. The decisions of the Court must be taken note of and implemented and on Monday, already, the law on the date of elections can be promoted in Parliament. The bill has already been submitted by an unaffiliated colleague and we will discuss it normally, in committees.

    Parliamentary elections will take place on December 6, only if President Klaus Iohannis sends for reconsideration, until October 24, the law adopted by Parliament and if the Legislature does not adopt a new normative act until the election date, former Constitutional Court President Augustin Zegrean explains. If the law comes into force before December 6, everything changes, everything resets. The head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery Ionel Dancă has stated that the whole calendar related to the organization of the parliamentary elections for December 6 is in force, and the Executive will decide the ways to follow. (M. Ignatescu)

  • September 30, 2020 UPDATE

    September 30, 2020 UPDATE






    COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreaks are spreading in Romania,
    particularly in care centers and in hospitals. The number of schools resorting
    to exclusively online classes is also on the rise. According to the latest
    official report, 2,158 new cases and 33 new deaths were reported in the past 24
    hours. So far, 4,825 COVID-19 patients have died in Romania, and more than
    127,500 people have tested positive. Prime Minister Ludovic
    Orban said on Wednesday that he called on the county committees for emergency
    situations to show a much more serious involvement in the implementation of the
    legal measures adopted by the authorities, to carry out control and
    communication actions for citizens to comply with health protection measures in
    the context of the pandemic.












    ELECTIONS Police and prosecutors carry on investigations in a
    criminal case initiated after on Sunday a Social Democrat running for a local
    councilor post was caught by representatives of Save Romania-PLUS Alliance with
    nearly 500 official reports from polling stations. The candidate backed by the
    Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, MEP Clotilde Armand, said she would
    request the General Prosecutor’s Office to take over the investigation. The
    acting Sector 1 mayor, the Social Democrat Dan Tudorache, said he also
    requested the Bureau to do a vote recount. According to centralized data,
    Clotilde Armand has won the election with 40.95%, while Dan Tudorache got
    39.82% of the votes. In Bucharest, the independent candidate Nicuşor Dan,
    backed by the Liberals and Save Romania-PLUS Alliance, secured some 43% of the
    votes for General Mayor of Bucharest. At national level, partial results point
    to major changes in the administration of county capitals. The Liberals, in
    power, have won 15 county capitals, the Social Democrats in opposition 14, and
    Save Romania-PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4
    each. As for county councils, the Social Democrats won 20, the Liberals
    17, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians 4.






    COURT The Constitutional Court of Romania has dismissed an
    objection raised by the President and Government against a bill authorizing
    Parliament to set the date of this year’s parliamentary elections. The current
    bill is therefore deemed in line with the constitution, and president Iohannis
    is either to sign it into law, or to send it back to Parliament for a review.
    Meanwhile, in keeping with current legislation, the Liberal government decided
    on Friday that the parliamentary election will be held on December 6. Until its
    publication in the Official Journal, the bill tabled by the opposition parties,
    the Social Democrats, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and ALDE, is
    not in force. If this happens, which specialists say is no longer possible
    because there is not enough time, it will be for the first time in 30 years
    that the date of general elections in Romania is set by Parliament and not by
    the Government.




    JUSTICE
    The President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, met, on
    Wednesday, with the Minister of Justice Cătălin Predoiu and with the Prime
    Minister Ludovic Orban. According to the head of state, the talks focused on bills
    to correct the justice laws. Klaus Iohannis said that fair justice and equality
    before the law were the essential pillars of a genuine democracy. He said there
    had been a counter-reform in recent years that had
    upset the justice system. Iohannis mentioned some values ​​of the
    judiciary that should be promoted: independence, professionalism, impartiality
    and meritocracy. In turn, the Minister of Justice, Cătălin Predoiu, announced a
    public debate, until March 31, 2021, on the proposals to amend the Justice
    Laws: the Law on the Status of Judges
    and Prosecutors, the Law on Judicial Organization and the Law on the Superior
    Council of Magistracy. Predoiu said that among the proposed amendments are the dismantling
    of the Section for the Investigation of Crimes in the Judiciary, the
    professionalization of the magistrates’ selection process, the elimination of
    non-competitive employment, the elimination of the early retirement scheme for
    magistrates, the strengthening of the principle of prosecutors’ independence
    and the elimination of restrictions regarding the freedom of expression of
    magistrates. We recall that, in August, the head of state asked the Minister of
    Justice to correct the justice laws, which, in his opinion, had been ‘trimmed
    by the Social Democratic Party”, the former ruling party.










    COMMITMENT In 2020, the Romanian
    Government continued to affirm its commitment to restore the pace of justice
    reform after the drawbacks of 2017-2019 and this led to a significant reduction
    of tensions in the judicial system, according to the first report of the
    European Commission on the rule of law in the EU, presented in Brussels on Wednesday.
    The document recalls that, since Romania’s joining the EU in 2007, justice and
    anti-corruption reforms have been monitored by the Commission through the
    Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), an important framework for
    meeting the four
    established conditionalities. The report stresses that Romania has a
    comprehensive national strategic anti-corruption framework, based on the broad
    participation of local and national institutional players. According to the
    document, the ongoing amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal
    Procedure increase the uncertainty related to the efficiency of the
    anti-corruption legal framework, and therefore it is important to find
    political and legal solutions to respond to key decisions of the Constitutional
    Court.






    CONFLICT The Romanian
    Foreign Ministry announces that Romanian embassies in Erevan and Baku are
    prepared to provide consular assistance to Romanian citizens in the conflict in
    the region. Romanian citizens are urged to be cautious and to seek information
    in official sources as regards possible changes in travel conditions in the 2
    countries. The European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) called on Azerbaijan and
    Armenia to refrain from any measures, especially military ones, that might
    infringe upon civilians’ rights. Clashes between Azeri and Armenian troops over
    the Nagorno-Karabakh region continue, in spite of an appeal for cease-fire and
    negotiations coming from the UN Security Council. According to official data,
    98 people, mostly Armenian separatist fighters and , and 17 civilians on both
    sides, have been killed in the past few days in the breakaway region of
    Nagorno-Karabakh.


    TENNIS Simona Halep (no. 2 WTA) on Wednesday defeated another
    Romanian, Irina Begu (72 WTA) in the 2nd round of the Roland Garros tournament.
    Also on Wednesday, in the doubles, the Romanians Andreea Mitu and Patricia Tig
    defeated the pair Madison Brengle of the US and Yana Sizikova of Russia. The
    Romanian – Swedish pair Ana Bogdan/Rebecca Peterson was defeated by the Check Marie
    Bouzkova and the Dutch Arantxa Rus. The match between Sorana Carstea of Romania
    and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain against the pair Alison Riske (USA)/Ajla
    Tomljanovic (Australia) was cancelled.



  • June 14 – 21

    June 14 – 21

    Coronavirus
    and Relaxation


    More than 23
    thousand cases of coronavirus infection and 1,500 deaths is the toll of the
    Covid-19 pandemic in Romania so far. President Klaus Iohannis has voiced
    worries over the increase in the number of new cases in the past days and
    called again on the population to observe sanitation rules, describing them as simple,
    commonsensical and extremely important: wearing a protective face mask, social
    distancing and hand hygiene.

    After two months of state of emergency and one of
    state of alert, the Government has decided to extend the latter, as of June
    17th, for another 30 days, but against the background of further relaxation
    measures. Therefore, fitness centers have reopened, just like shops in malls. Indoor
    cinemas and playgrounds though remain closed. Also, religious masses inside the
    church are now allowed. Private indoor events must not gather more than 20
    participants, and the outdoor ones 50. Betting and gambling facilities have
    also reopened. The list of countries where flights from and to Romania are
    allowed will be updated on a weekly basis.




    A Special Pension Story


    A recurrent theme in public debates in Romania, the
    taxation of the so called ‘special pensions’, which does not observe the contributive
    principle, has grabbed the headlines again. Parliament has decided to tax the
    difference between the special pension, benefiting also senators and deputies,
    and the one obtained through contributions paid, periodically, to the pension fund,
    during one’s active life. The difference from 2,000 lei, which is the equivalent
    of some 400 Euro, up to the amount of 7,000 lei shall be taxed as before, by
    10%, and for the amounts exceeding 7,000 lei, the tax will be 85%.

    According to
    data provided by the Public Pension House, the number of people receiving special
    public service pensions stood at 9,500 at the end of last month. Out of them,
    some 4,100 are benefiting from the provisions of the law on the status of prosecutors
    and judges, and one of them gets the highest pension in Romania: 19,000 Lei, which
    is approximately 3,900 Euro. Also receiving special pensions are some 150,000
    former employees of the public order and national safety services.


    Quite promptly, the High Court of Cassation and Justice
    and the Ombudsman notified the Constitutional Court about the taxation of
    special pensions in Romania. The supreme court criticizes the fact that
    successive rulings on the matter have been ignored, that the Superior Council
    of Magistracy has not been consulted and that the principles of fair taxation
    and judges’ independence have been violated. Notified by the same institutions
    last month, the Constitutional Court of Romania rejected a bill meant to
    abrogate special pensions. Pundits are expecting a similar outcome, given that
    six out of the nine Constitutional Court judges are beneficiaries of special
    pensions, and some of them actually cumulate several such pensions.


    Evaluation in the Time of Pandemic


    Shut since March, when on-line classes started being
    held in Romania because of the pandemic, schools have reopened this week for
    the so called ‘National Evaluation’, which is a prerequisite for enrollment
    into high school in Romania. The exams have been taken by some 160,000
    graduates of secondary schools.

    Because of the pandemic, special measures were
    taken this week. Healthcare
    personnel checked children’s temperature and every school was equipped with
    decontamination mats, protective face masks and biocide substances to use on
    floors, doorknobs, desks and chairs. Children were not allowed to bring any
    bags or backpacks into the examination rooms and were seated 2 m from each
    other during the exam. The students who are self-isolating, quarantined,
    hospitalized, and those who had a temperature above 37.3 degrees Celsius on the
    exam day and those suffering from conditions that may be worsened by the novel
    coronavirus will take the exams in a special session between June 22 and July 4.




    Sibiu International Theatre Festival Online


    The Sibiu International Theatre Festival has been held
    online this week, which is a first for the reputed festival. This year’s theme
    is ‘The Power of Believing’. The agenda of the festival includes 138 events,
    from 30 countries on 5 continents, presented on the official website of the
    festival: www.sibfest.ro, and also on
    Facebook and YouTube. Adding to that are 12 special conferences. According to
    the organizers, the Sibiu Festival, the biggest theatre festival in Central and
    Eastern Europe, has offered its audience 250 hours of theatrical performance,
    dance, music, circus, conferences, debates, reading-shows and children’s
    performances, all free of charge.


    Whims of the Weather


    Recently, all of Romania has been under a yellow code
    for storms and meteorologists have successively issued red and orange codes, as
    well as immediate warnings for torrential rain and hail storms. Hydrologists
    have also issued codes yellow and orange on rivers, targeting river basins all
    over the country. County and national roads have been blocked by alluvium
    caused by heavy rainfall and trees blown by strong winds. Many villages were
    left without electricity after electricity poles were knocked to the ground by
    storms or fallen trees. In some areas, hail has also severely affected crops,
    orchards in particular. It took the intervention of firefighters to remove the
    flooded households and to clear some cars and electric cables from the road. (M.Ignatescu)









  • What’s happening with local elections?

    What’s happening with local elections?

    Fresh subjects of dispute have brought the governing National Liberal Party and the opposition Social Democratic Party before the Constitutional Court of Romania, namely the extension of the terms of the local elected officials and the date of the next local elections. The Court, notified about the normative acts recently adopted by the Government and Parliament, ruled on Wednesday that the Emergency Government Ordinance on extending the terms of the local public administration authorities was unconstitutional.



    Also, they rejected the bill adopted by Parliament on the mandate of the local public administration and setting the date of elections, for legislative parallelism. The Court said that extending the terms cannot be done by means of a government ordinance, and only by law. Parliament had adopted a bill extending the terms of the local elected officials by the end of the year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, and granting the Legislative the right to set a date for the local elections, by means of an organic law.



    The Constitutional Court Judges said that extending the terms must be done via Parliament, and the date for the local elections must be set within the period over which the said terms were to be extended. So, Parliament will have to discuss with the Government about this, in order to ensure institutional collaboration.



    The Constitutional Courts ruling has obviously triggered lots of reactions among politicians. The president of the Social Democratic Party, Mircea Ciolacu, has made an appeal to all political forces to draw up together a law on extending the terms of the local officials and on setting the date for local elections. He has stated that the local mandates expire on June 21st, so representatives of the parliamentary parties will have to start promoting the bill in Parliament as of next week, in order to avoid a disaster in local government. Marcel Ciolacu has also stated that, once a law on extending the terms has been voted, a new consultation will be held, on the date for the local elections.



    In turn, the National Liberal Party, through the voice of the Liberal deputies leader Florin Roman, has termed the Courts decision as unprecedented, because the judges acted on own decision with regard to the government ordinance, which had not been challenged at the Court. Florin Roman has admitted, though, that if there is consensus between parties on this issue, a bill will pass rapidly through Parliament. According to him, things are clear and the Government has the possibility, as it has happened in the past 30 years, to set the date for elections and the related calendar. Also, Parliament can establish, by law, the mandates of the local elected officials. The Liberals have proposed September or early October for the local elections. (M.Ignatescu)


  • Higher salaries in the education and health-care sectors

    Higher salaries in the education and health-care sectors

    The Constitutional Court of Romania has decided that the law
    amending the ordinance on the salaries of public sector employees is
    constitutional, thus ruling against the notifications filed by the National
    Liberal Party and the Government. The decision is final and binding. The
    Government and 65 Liberal MPs have questioned the constitutionality of the law
    on the salaries of public sector employees. On November 7th, the
    Chamber of Deputies passed an emergency ordinance, subsequently
    amended by advisory committees, providing for an average 15% salary increase in
    the education and healthcare sectors.

    On November 8th, Prime
    Minister Dacian Ciolos said the Government would challenge the law at the
    Constitutional Court, claiming the amendments had been passed for purely
    populist reasons, with the aim of attracting more votes ahead of the elections,
    and drawn up without any due analysis or public debate. Dacian Ciolos said the
    law risked preventing any future Government from adopting a law on a single
    salary scheme, which should solve the inequities existing in the public sector.
    The Prime Minister went on to say that MPs clearly knew about the Law on fiscal
    and budget accountability, according to which no legislation on salary
    increases can be passed six months ahead of any scheduled parliamentary
    elections. According to Dacian Ciolos,
    the law clearly stipulates that public institutions are forbidden from
    passing such laws, and Parliament is a public institution.


    Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has already decided to sign the
    bill into law. Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social-Democratic Party, which
    won the parliamentary elections by a large margin and spearheaded this law
    despite Government opposition, has voiced readiness to apply the new measures regarding salary increases
    as of January 1. Dragnea has stated that the Social-Democratic Party had taken
    into account these increases when drafting the budget presented during the election
    campaign, just like it did with the increase in the gross minimum salary to
    1,450 lei, also starting January 1, 2017.

    The former campaign manager of the
    National Liberal Party, Gheorghe Falca, referring to the Court’s decision to
    rule against the Liberals’ notification, has stated that he is always happy
    when salaries in the administration go up, adding however that he still
    expects a single salary law that should deal away with the inequities in the
    system, along with a gradual increase in salaries in the local and central
    public administration, reflecting Romania’s economic growth. In turn, Labour
    Minister Dragos Pislaru, who originally opposed the measures, commented on the
    Court’s decision, saying that resources are limited and someone will have to
    foot the bill, either other categories of public sector employees or everyone
    else.

  • Controversial pay rises

    Controversial pay rises

    Romanian MPs near to the end of their term in office, on Monday passed the law that raises salaries by 15% for education and healthcare employees as from January 1st 2017. The Law has stirred heated debates on the public scene. The PM Dacian Cioloş announced he would ask the Constitutional Court to give its verdict on the constitutionality of that law. According to Cioloş, the MPs failed to ask for the government’s opinion, as stipulated by law. Also they did not submit the draft law for public, transparent debate.



    Furthermore, the principle of a two-chamber parliament was infringed. Upon the voting of the law, Labour Minister, Dragos Pislaru said that the government could allow an increase of 15 % on an average of salaries for healthcare employees and of 10% for education employees, both pay rises in installments. He has made a last call on Parliament to take responsibility. In his opinion, the pay rises cannot be covered by the budget and are an inequity since high salaries will increase more and lower salaries less.



    Dragos Pislaru: “Actually, there are things concealed in the charts. The amendments laid down in the committee’s report will entail polarization between newcomers in the system and those who will now benefit from the highest pay rises. Most of the increases will go to employees who already have higher salaries.”



    The leader of the Social-Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, believes that there is enough money for those pay rises, which will amount to 1.8-1.9 billion lei and that the budget deficit will not exceed the allowed percentage.



    Liviu Dragnea: “At the moment, the budget deficit is 0.4-0.45% of the GDP and so, it cannot go up to 2.8-2.9%. The economic growth for 2017 predicted by the Forecast Committee will ultimately provide the general consolidated budget of roughly 14 billion lei with additional revenues. Folks, don’t keep unused money and people with very low wages.”



    The Liberal camp refused to participate in the debates and the final vote on the law because it believes that its provisions are not covered by the budget and the law was passed for electoral purposes. The National Liberal Party also claimed that the law was passed with the lack of quorum.



    In pundits’ view, those cases of so-called “electoral alms” given in the run up to the parliamentary elections due in December will leave their mark on economic growth and will trigger a drop in investments.